PINOY BASEBALL BLOG Player of the Week

PABA Youth Baseball – Jonjon Robles (University of Sto. Tomas)

In UST’s late charge to beat RTU in Game 1 of the PABA Youth baseball, the Golden Sox won on late hitting. But, credit must go to the team’s pitching, and Robles had a lot to do with it.

In the first two innings, UST started Korean hurler Song Chun Wang but cost to team to surrender four runs in the first to trail early. After a short trip to the mound by Miko Saito, it became a stage for Robles to put on a show.

He struck out 16 batters, retiring 11 of the last 13 and at point had six consecutive K’s. The crucial thing here was that it helped the Golden Sox get back in the contest while keeping the Technocrats silent on offense.

By the ninth inning, Robles retired the final three hitters he faced in 5 1/3 innings to take the win, and a game away from capturing the PABA title.

Baseball Philippines – Jonjon Robles (Makati Mariners)

How about an encore for the reigning UAAP MVP?

A day after his PABA Youth performance, he donned the neon green colors of the Makati Mariners in the Baseball Philippines Pilot Series, and once again led a team to a win via a relief appearance, this time against the Manila Sharks.

After the Sharks tied the contest at 4-4 with two outs, and with Nino Tator on second, in the sixth inning, Makati coach Jeffrey Santiago pulled starter Roel Batuto in place of Robles.

What happened next? Robles struck out Rommel Roja to end the side.

That crucial putout gave the Mariners the momentum in the seventh inning, scoring three runs to retake the lead, 7-4.

Robles then went back to finish the job, retiring eight of final 11 batters to finish with seven strikeouts (the official statistics had six) to be recorded as the winning pitcher.

It was a good recovery for the 21-year old a week after he was named as the losing pitcher in their loss to Cebu in the tournament opener.